I love running Lenspiration! But running Lenspiration is also a lot of work. . . .

A few weeks ago, things were piling up. On top of the the regular weekly tasks, I was dumping lots of time into the Lenspiration calendars. Time was ticking, and decisions had to be made. Could we actually work out a way to start doing personalized calendars again?

Decisions had to be made about the next photo assignment coming up too. Ziesemer Family Publishers was excited to have us photograph for them again. But the particulars of the assignment were just like every other assignment; particulars that simply take time to figure out.

If only I had more time! Maybe I could work all day Saturday. Or, maybe I could just work a few late nights? How about I just add one hour to each work day and I could magically get caught up on everything!

But no, I’ve learned it’s more exciting to live inside of God’s boundaries. It was time for a weekend getaway. Plus, the fall colors were coming and going quickly, and at least one landscape shoot per season is helpful for feeding future calendars. As a photography educator, regular shooting is important to keep me from getting rust too.

So, we cleared the calendar for Saturday and headed off that day to the mountains before sunrise. But not just to take pictures. A fellow from church has a cabin out close to the Virginia border, so in exchange for spending the night, we helped him split a bunch of firewood!

Hard, physical labor in the outdoors is good for the soul. And taking pictures for no particular reason is good for the soul too.  

That evening, Julianna and I drove around the countryside enjoying the colors and taking pictures of the sunset. After all, it was pretty close to our 2nd month anniversary.

I think visiting a little country church the next day, and trying to pick out a tune on the harmonica for special music was also good for the soul.

Come Monday morning, though I have to admit I did get up a little late, I was refreshed and ready to tackle the new week. Breaking away, completely, is a good thing sometimes. Especially when it involves helping others in ways that isn’t advancing my own, regular agenda.

And guess what?

The details for the Ziesemer Family Publishers assignment got figured out! Can you guess which two songs on their CD we’ll be photographing for? (Hint: the songs speak of a subject we’ve never photographed before.)

And the details for the personalized calendars are coming together too! Have you noticed the surprising price difference between the two types of calendars? Original calendar prices vs Personalized calendars prices.

Things are still piled up. There’s still a million things to do. But isn’t that the way it will always be?

It’s good to know our responsibilities and work diligently to fulfil them, but let us always remember to hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man! (Ecclesiastes 12:13) That’s the only way we’ll know how to strike the correct balances in life.